Archived: Holmlands Dental Practice

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection on 20 October 2015 to ask the practice the following key questions; Are services safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led?

Our findings were:

Are services safe?

We found that this practice was providing safe care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services effective?

We found that this practice was providing effective care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services caring?

We found that this practice was providing caring services in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services responsive?

We found that this practice was providing responsive care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Are services well-led?

We found that this practice was providing well-led care in accordance with the relevant regulations.

Background

The practice is situated in the Prenton area of Birkenhead. The practice has two dentists, an associate dentist, a dental hygienist, two part time practice managers, three qualified dental nurses and two trainee dental nurses. The practice provides primary dental services to predominately NHS child and adult patients. The practice is open Monday to Friday 8.45am – 5.30pm.

The principal dentist is the registered provider. A registered provider is registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered providers have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the practice is run.

We viewed 48 CQC comment cards that had been left by patients who completed them prior to our visit. We also spoke to two patients on the day of inspection, about the services provided. The comment cards seen and patients spoken to reflected positive comments about the staff and the services provided. Patients commented that the practice appeared very clean; they found the staff very caring and friendly. They had trust and confidence in the dental treatments and said explanations were clear and understandable. Emergency appointments were available on the same day and appointments usually ran on time.

Our key findings were:

• The practice recorded and analysed accidents, incidents and complaints and cascaded learning to staff when they occurred.
• Staff had received safeguarding training and knew the processes to follow to raise any concerns.
• There were sufficient numbers of suitably qualified staff to meet the needs of patients.
• Staff had been trained to deal with medical emergencies and emergency medicines and emergency equipment were available.
• Infection control procedures were in place.
• Patients ‘care and treatment was planned and delivered in line with evidence based guidelines, best practice and current legislation.
• Patients received clear explanations about their proposed treatment, costs, benefits and risks and were involved in making decisions about it.
• Patients were treated with dignity and respect and confidentiality was maintained.

• The appointment system met the needs of patients and waiting times were kept to a minimum.
• The practice staff felt involved and worked as a team.

• The practice sought feedback from staff and patients about the services they provided.

There were areas where the provider could make improvements and should consider :

• That patient safety and other relevant alerts and guidance is followed and actions taken documented.
• That the procedures for storage of paper records meets health and safety and fire regulations in accordance with the Department of Health's code of Practice for Records Management (NHS Code of Practice 2006) and other relevant guidance about information security and governance.
• Reporting procedures for significant clinical events enable full analysis of the event and includes documentation of lessons learnt with any changes implemented.